Corner
*This is a Story I wrote Hope you Enjoy*

       Nikolai had grown to become particularly excited to move in any direction, for it was at that time that he would see his friend. Nikolai did not move often, he did not have many friends, but when he convinced himself that there would be an greater-outer- knowing of some kind that would make give his life any value, he got up, and he would move. An old lady appeared at Nikolai’s door one day, and she rang the door bell about ten times before he had the courage to get up, and as he figured, speak. The lady’s diligence echoed throughout Nikolai’s home in “Deck the halls”, a tune Nikolai’s parents had installed a year and a half ago in a Christmas impulse. The great Parent’s Christmas impulse had not ended even at this moment, and Nikolai took the agonizing door bell as yet another outward force of some all knowing evil that was set to ruin a life of his that had already been ruined. At last, at the tenth ring of the door bell, Nikolai felt pushed to get up and make it shut up by doing what he did not want to. Nikolai got up from his bed and he ran in a straight line, his hands pressed over his ears. He had almost run into the wall in front of him, but he suddenly had to make a turn to run down the steps. Nikolai turned quickly, sloppily, and out of the corner of his eyes, he could see an image, of a person, of whom he was sure was real. Nikolai became paranoid, and as he ran down the great steps of his empty lonely home, he turned again, shifting his body, feeling somewhat of a push. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that figure again, this time staring dashingly and twisting its smile at him. Nikolai yelled, although he wasn’t sure why, as he opened the door for the old lady, who was staring at him, but with a blank smile on her face. “Hello”, she said, ignoring the deafening ring of the last door bell and Nikolai’s rudeness. “Young man, would you like to join the Newsboys club? You get a bicycle and you get to learn how to throw newspapers onto strangers lawns. You boys must love that. Would you care to join”? Nikolai didn’t really care about anything at this point, he knew that there were outward forces, in door bells, in strange people that appeared when he turned, and in the twists and turns of his life. Nikolai stared at the woman “Sure”.

    And so it began that Nikolai would see his friend and he could no longer define reality. Nikolai would ride his bike everyday, and as he would ride to the corner of House and Maple, he would accelerate his bicycle consistently until he would go at an especially fast speed. Nikolai would cruise with this speed, and once he had reached his set corner, he would jerk his bicycle so his body would sway to the left of the corner’s sharp right, and see his friend. The friend would never appear on the corner’s side of Nikolai’s turns, rather, Nikolai would curve into them, at which point the friend would say “Hi”. Nikolai would say “hi” back to his friend, but his friend would be gone within the flash of the turn. Nikolai would shrug, and he would continue until he reached the corners of Pine and Square, whereby he would turn to see his friend again, and ask “How are you”, and his friend would say “Good, you”? Nikolai would huff under his breath, “I’m fine, hey-”, but his friend would be gone, as he had been before. Nikolai would marvel at his friend, but he would wonder why everyone else would simply continue with their lives as if there wasn’t any new person in the neighborhood whenever his friend would appear. He wondered why no one called his friend’s name in order for his friend to disappear. He wondered who his friend was. The second month into Nikolai’s corner adventures and his halted conversations with his curious friend, he decided that he would have to know his friend’s name. The question had occurred to him before, but at first sight of his friend, he had forgotten it, as if his friend had pushed him to. Nikolai thought through his motives, but not enough to contemplate the those of his friend. Nikolai’s revelation did not occur to him on his shift, and so in the Summer’s evening, he decided to mount on his bike to turn a corner, and see his friend. Nikolai sped toward House and Maple, and he vowed to himself he would not look at his friends face just in case. Nikolai held his stomach in, and he turned the corner, preparing to open his mouth. Nikolai forgot his vow, and as he turned the corner, he asked, “What is your name?” as fast as he thought he was able; yet Nikolai did not see his friend, and a kid on the inside of the corner asked him “WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?”, as loudly as he thought he was able. Nikolai nodded his head left and right, and he sped to the next corner. Nikolai deviated his body around the corner, expecting his friend to emerge outwardly from the butterflies in his stomach, or from the corner, or from  his speed, or to simply appear. And so Nikolai asked again, “What is your name?” as quickly and as loudly as he could. The same kid that sat at the previous corner, appeared at Pine and Square, on the inside of Nikolai’s turn. “WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?” the kid yelled redundantly. Nikolai ignored the kid, he was sure it was a figment of his imagination, and he sought to talk to something real. Nikolai sped past his abilities to the next corner, and sped ridiculously as he curved it. Nikolai yelled as loud as he could, “WHAT IS YOUR NAME, FRIEND”? Nikolai saw his friend,but before his friend could answer, he let his hand loose so he could feel his friends hands, as he felt he was about to fall. Nikolai felt nothing. Nikolai felt the crisp of the air, and he felt the cold shadow of nothing, and he could not see anything. Nikolai did not feel his friend, and when he opened his eyes he could feel something real. Nikolai had fallen onto the kid who had appeared at the inside of each corner, and somehow this kid had successfully pulled Nikolai onto himself. “WHY DID YOU DO THAT KID!?”, Nikolai yelled. “I SAW YOU WERE TALKING TO NO-ONE. NOTHING. I WAS CURIOUS SO I FOLLOWED YOU I GUESS. WHO WERE YOU TALKING TO THOUGH? OH AND YOU FELL. ON TOP OF ME! I’M REAL YOU KNOW! WHAT DID I DO?” the kid screamed into Nikolai’s face, forcing Nikolai to come to a truth. Nikolai realized that his corner friend had not been real at all, and that neither was the outside force that was coming for his life, which meant that the doorbell was simply a spur of his parent’s life, and he was left friendless because of what only he had done and thought. He was his outward force, except the force only came from the inside, and nothing else,and this kid had quite literally become one as well. Nikolai got up from the ground. He brushed himself off. “Say Kid, what’s your name”? Nikolai waited, as this friend might be as existent as the other one. The kid answered his name, and Nikolai heard the kid’s mother’s voice calling him in for dinner. “See you”, the kid said, and he ran away.